Today’s News

Under the Dome's Neal Baer: A Storm of Unseen Power Will Descend on Chester's Mill

After it was pieced together that Junior (Alexander Koch) also had seizures growing up — coupled with the fact that his mother drew him as a child with pink stars — he joined Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz), Joe (Colin Ford) and Angie (Britt Robertson) at the mini-dome to discover that he is, in fact, the fourth hand that unlocks it. As the quartet placed their hands on the mysterious mini-dome, pink stars showered around them, at which point Junior says what every viewer is thinking: "But what does it mean?"

"The last three episodes dive deeply into exploring that question," executive producer Neal Baer tells TVGuide.com. "The power of the four hands will soon be revealed."

These four could be the key to uncovering the mystery of the dome — and in turn, the mini-dome, which is now home to a caterpillar that will seemingly turn into a Monarch butterfly. But is the caterpillar the Monarch who will be crowned? (It's all a bit confusing, no?) "All we know is that the caterpillar has the potential to turn into a Monarch butterfly," Baer says. "So the question is how this Monarch butterfly, trapped under the mini-dome, will lead to the crowning of 'The Monarch.'"

Presumably that means one of the four is the Monarch since the mini-dome protected itself against Dodee (Jolene Purdy) when she tried to touch it. (It caused her to get shocked and lose a portion of her memory.) "She isn't one of the four hands," Baer explains. "Perhaps the mini-dome needs the four hands to allow it to fulfill its mission and only those four hands. Anyone else who touches it is repelled forcefully!"

But the Monarch really is the least of everyone's worries since Linda (Natalie Martinez) has uncovered the truth about Big Jim's (Dean Norris) involvement with Rapture. She confronted the Councilman during last week's episode, but don't expect him to go quietly, so to speak. "Does Big Jim ever fully cooperate with anyone? In a word, no," Baer teases.

Big Jim has more to worry about than facing the police. After all, he technically killed Maxine's (Natalie Zea) mother Agatha (Mare Winningham) after leaving her to drown in the middle of the lake. Baer promises we'll find out if Agatha really died on Monday's episode. Either way, it will surly send Maxine on the war path, which could be quite dangerous for both Big Jim and Barbie (Mike Vogel).

Even though Barbie revealed to Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) that he killed her husband, Baer cautions the worst is yet to come for this new couple. "Something shocking happens in [Monday's] episode that puts [their trust] to a test," he says. "A storm of emotions and a storm of unseen power is about to descend on Chester's Mill."